News
Local

MPP Rick Nicholls says action needed, not more consultation

Rick Nicholls is upset his private member's bill to make it easier to charge motorists who “blow-by” school buses while stopped with lights activated, is stuck in the slow lane.

The MPP for Chatham-Kent Essex has learned Bill 94, which he tabled last year, will be part of the public consultation process with the recently announced road safety measures that target aggressive drivers, introduced by the Minister of Transportation Steven Del Duca.

Nicholls' bill calls for installing cameras on school buses that will allow video evidence of vehicles blowing by stopped school buses to be allowed as evidence in court.

The MPP heard about a recent incident in nearby Tecumseh where a home security video showed a car passing a school bus on the shoulder of the road, going past the bus door, just before children got off the vehicle.

“That's ridiculous,” he said.

Nicholls said pilot projects where school buses were equipped with cameras in Waterloo, Mississauga and North Bay illustrated the need.

“When they did the pilot in Mississauga, they averaged two-and-half blow-bys per bus per day,” he said.

Nicholls said Del Duca has told him it's a good bill, but they want to have stakeholder discussions.

Back in May, Nicholls said he received a personal letter from the transportation minister stating the government was going to hold stakeholder relations during the summer and he would be invited to part of those meetings.

“That's not happened,” he said.

“I'm frustrated with how things have moved so slowly,” Nicholls added.

The problem of vehicles not obeying flashing lights and stop signs on school buses prompted the Chatham-Kent Lambton Administrative School Services (CLASS), which manages student bus transportation services across the region, to take action.

CLASS general manager Kent Orr, told The Daily News in an interview earlier this year that external cameras were put on school buses more than three years ago on routes that had been identified as having a higher potential for risk because of the frequency of drivers not obeying flashing lights.

Orr said getting information from a licence plate is still difficult because drivers are busy doing their job to make sure kids are getting off and on the bus safely while watching traffic.

"So, when a car goes blasting by, it's tough for them to spot the plates, so that's why we started putting cameras out in our hotspots," he said.

Nicholls said he's received emails from across the province and collected hundreds of signatures on a petition by people wanting Bill 94 passed.

He noted the government can push a bill through quickly if it wants.

Nicholls said he has appealed to the government through letter, petition as well as in Question Period and in face-to-face discussions.

“Let's get some action on this,” he said, adding it is clear what needs to be done.